Intelligence Squared

On today’s episode, an episode from our friends at Sotheby's exploring the question: How do objects achieve iconic status? Taking inspiration from the book Icons: 100 Extraordinary Objects from Sotheby’s History, published by Phaidon, the discussion explores how a work of art can transform beyond its material form to become a universal cultural image – instantly recognisable, endlessly reproduced, and symbolically charged. Joining the discussion are artist Sir Grayson Perry; Xa Sturgis, Director of the Ashmolean Museum; and Helena Newman, Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe and Chairman of Impressionist & Modern Art Worldwide. This podcast was recorded at Sotheby’s London in February 2026.  And, to step further into the world of Sotheby’s, you can visit any of our galleries around the world; they’re open to the public. For more information, visit Sothebys.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fiona Hill is one of the most authoritative voices on the forces reshaping global politics today. Born in County Durham, from 2017 to 2019 she was a senior adviser on European and Russian Affairs at the White House and in October 2019 she was a key witness in President Trump’s first impeachment inquiry. In 2024 and 2025 she co-led the British Government’s Strategic Defence Review, which sets out how the UK should scale up its response to risks from an emboldened Russia and a less predictable United States.  Hill cautions that we are not in a second Cold War, but in a more volatile era of asymmetric threats. She warns that Trump’s engagement with autocratic leaders such as Putin and Xi is strengthening authoritarian regimes and eroding long‑standing alliances, and highlights sabotage and disinformation – the kind of threats seen in recent incidents such as the Russian spy‑ship Yantar encroaching on UK waters and the rail explosion in Poland.  Hill came to the Intelligence Squared stage in February 2026 where

Fiona Hill is one of the most authoritative voices on the forces reshaping global politics today. Born in County Durham, from 2017 to 2019 she was a senior adviser on European and Russian Affairs at the White House and in October 2019 she was a key witness in President Trump’s first impeachment inquiry. In 2024 and 2025 she co-led the British Government’s Strategic Defence Review, which sets out how the UK should scale up its response to risks from an emboldened Russia and a less predictable United States.  Hill cautions that we are not in a second Cold War, but in a more volatile era of asymmetric threats. She warns that Trump’s engagement with autocratic leaders such as Putin and Xi is strengthening authoritarian regimes and eroding long‑standing alliances, and highlights sabotage and disinformation – the kind of threats seen in recent incidents such as the Russian spy‑ship Yantar encroaching on UK waters and the rail explosion in Poland.  Hill came to the Intelligence Squared stage in February 2026 where

Scott Anderson is a veteran foreign reporter and war correspondent, and a contributing writer for The New York Times. Over his career he has reported from Bosnia, Libya, Palestine and across the Middle East. In this episode, he spoke to host Hannah Lucinda Smith about his new book, King of Kings, a gripping account of the fall of the Shah of Iran, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the rise of the Islamic Republic. Together, they explore the flaws that led to the Shah’s downfall, and why Western powers fundamentally misunderstood what was happening in the country in the months before the revolution. They also examine how these events shaped Iran and the Middle East today, and the political future of a country whose power has been diminished in the region, but whose population is again rallying around the flag in response to external aggression. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/me

What does it take to lead one of the world’s most powerful banks when the global financial system is on the brink of collapse? As CEO for Goldman Sachs from 2006 to 2018, Lloyd Blankfein was at the helm as the global financial system teetered on collapse. He successfully steered the company through the most devastating financial crisis of our age, and stabilised its ascent for the following decade. His story is one of decisive global leadership at the top of one of the most competitive and successful corporations in the world.  In this episode he speaks to Lionel Barber about his journey from the public housing projects of Brooklyn to the highest level of global finance. Drawing on his new memoir, Streetwise: Getting to and Through Goldman Sachs, Blankfein revisits the decisions that defined an era, and what his long tenure taught him about leadership, human nature, financial capitalism.  Lionel Barber is a journalist and the former Editor of the Financial Times, and author of The Gambling Man. This episo

As one of the world’s most respected journalists, CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour has witnessed some of the most consequential events of our time. In the Middle East, she has reported from the frontlines in the 1991 Gulf War, the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq and exclusively from the Baghdad courtroom at the trial of Saddam Hussein, where the former dictator was eventually sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. Her fearless reporting from conflict zones has taken her to places including the Balkans, Syria, Sudan, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Venezuela and beyond. Throughout her career she has sought to challenge world leaders, expose war crimes and help viewers understand the consequences of war and peace. In February 2026 she came to the Intelligence Squared stage to help us make sense of the World in 2026. Alongside journalist and broadcaster Ritula Shah, Amanpour addressed some of the key questions of our time. Will Donald Trump name a successor or try to seek a third term

As one of the world’s most respected journalists, CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour has witnessed some of the most consequential events of our time. In the Middle East, she has reported from the frontlines in the 1991 Gulf War, the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq and exclusively from the Baghdad courtroom at the trial of Saddam Hussein, where the former dictator was eventually sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. Her fearless reporting from conflict zones has taken her to places including the Balkans, Syria, Sudan, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Venezuela and beyond. Throughout her career she has sought to challenge world leaders, expose war crimes and help viewers understand the consequences of war and peace. In February 2026 she came to the Intelligence Squared stage to help us make sense of the World in 2026. Alongside journalist and broadcaster Ritula Shah, Amanpour addressed some of the key questions of our time. Will Donald Trump name a successor or try to seek a third term

Fatima Bhutto was born into the world of high politics in Pakistan. She was just 14 when she witnessed the assasination of her politician father outside of their home, and was forced to flee the country. She subsequently published Songs of Blood and Sword, which shed light on the story of her father’s murder and the Bhutto family's history in Pakistani politics, and other works of fiction including The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.  In her new memoir, The Hour of the Wolf, Bhutto reveals how, behind this largely public and political story, she was battling anxiety, depression, and the entrapment of a dangerously coercive relationship with an older man.  In this episode, she speaks to Mythili Rao about the fiercely loyal Jack Russel, Coco, who helped her to live again, and the act of transforming her shame into a force of solidarity with others. Fatima Bhutto’s new memoir, The Hour of the Wolf, is available now in bookstores and online.If you'd like to

Decarbonisation is triggering a new great-power race. As demand for green technologies and sustainable power sources grows, Washington and Beijing are battling for control of cobalt, lithium, copper, and nickel - the critical metals that will determine who lands on top of the global energy transition. In this episode, Nicolas Niarchos joins host Atossa Araxia Abrahamian to discuss The Elements of Power, a sweeping investigation into the war for the global supply of battery metals. From the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Indonesia and beyond, Niarchos uncovers a world shaped by rapacious colonial legacies, Cold War maneuvering, corporate rivalry, and dazzling technological innovation.  Niarchos argues that as wealthy nations push to electrify their economies, the human and environmental costs are pushed out of sight - onto miners working by hand, polluted communities, and territories still treated as expendable. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of

Jon Lee Anderson is considered one of the great foreign correspondents of our time. Since the late 1980s, his on-the-ground reporting in Afghanistan has provided invaluable insight into decades of conflict and political upheaval. For The New Yorker magazine he covered the US-backed Mujahideen’s insurrection in Kabul, was an eyewitness to the new war launched by the US against the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies within days of the 9/11 attacks, and reported on the supposed quick and easy victory of America while Osama bin Laden was still in hiding.  On February 10, Anderson joins us in person to reflect on his decades-long career, throughout which he has traced the missteps of the US-led war in Afghanistan, now widely regarded as one of the greatest foreign policy failures of the modern era.  Join us live at the Kiln Theatre and ask your questions in the audience  Q&A. ---If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit

Jon Lee Anderson is considered one of the great foreign correspondents of our time. Since the late 1980s, his on-the-ground reporting in Afghanistan has provided invaluable insight into decades of conflict and political upheaval. For The New Yorker magazine he covered the US-backed Mujahideen’s insurrection in Kabul, was an eyewitness to the new war launched by the US against the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies within days of the 9/11 attacks, and reported on the supposed quick and easy victory of America while Osama bin Laden was still in hiding.  On February 10, Anderson joins us in person to reflect on his decades-long career, throughout which he has traced the missteps of the US-led war in Afghanistan, now widely regarded as one of the greatest foreign policy failures of the modern era.  Join us live at the Kiln Theatre and ask your questions in the audience  Q&A. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free convers

This is an episode of The Specialist, your weekly dose of wonder. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know it best. On today’s episode, Frank Everett, Sotheby's Vice Chairman, Jewelry Americas, discusses the string of faux pearls that belonged to the legendary Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Estimated at $500-$700, it was the power of provenance that drove them to sell for over $200,000. Frank is largely self-taugh and moved through the major jewelry houses before joining Sotheby’s, where his knowledge of the design and history of great period jewels has led him to oversee record-breaking sales. He has his own popular video series - Frank's Files - and a cult following. Further details about the episode subject Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What it might mean – biologically, socially, and philosophically – if death becomes optional? Humanity has long dreamed about the idea of immortality. And in 2026, many believe that dream could soon become a reality. The world’s most powerful technologists and investors are pouring billions into engineering immortality itself. For these modern-day immortalists, aging is no longer an inevitability – it’s a technical glitch that can be hacked, reversed, or eradicated altogether. On today’s episode, award-winning broadcaster and academic Aleks Krotoski speaks to host Carl Miller about the moguls, effective altruists, geroscientists and entrepreneurs who are seeking to disrupt death.  Drawing on Krotoski’s new book The Immortalists, they discuss encounters with radical life extensionists transfusing their teenage son’s blood, transhumanists who want to upload consciousness to the cloud, biohackers flogging AI-powered wellness apps and billionaire kingmakers building brand-new nations. If you'd like to become

What if DNA could be edited as easily as software? What if we could delete disease, redesign organisms, and eventually rewrite ourselves? In this episode, Adrian Woolfson joins host Güneş Taylor to discuss his book, On the Future of Species. As artificial intelligence fuses with synthetic biology, Woolfson argues that we are beginning to decode the grammar of the genome - learning not just to read life, but to write it. Today, scientists are still in the scribbling phase, editing microbes and viruses. Tomorrow, we may design entirely new organisms or resurrect lost ones. Evolution would no longer be destiny. It would be a choice. But who gets to choose? And what happens to ecosystems, and human nature itself when genomes become editable? If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared e

2025 has been an unprecedented year. Donald Trump’s tariff war, conflicts in the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine, and breakneck innovation in AI have put enormous pressure on the existing world order. Now 2026 is set to be another test of resilience for the global economy. All eyes are on Rachel Reeves to deliver growth; how will the new Budget, anticipated to contain cuts and tax raises, shape the nation for the year to come? What does the rising wave of populism from left and right mean for the economic policies of incumbent parties in the UK, Europe, US and beyond? And how will the United States and China’s battle for supremacy continue to impact us all? In February 2026, Chief Economics Commentator for the Financial Times Martin Wolf joined us to explore how these tensions will shape the world economy in the year ahead, and what new threats and opportunities could be on the horizon. Widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential writers on the global economy and a multi-award-winning financial j

2025 has been an unprecedented year. Donald Trump’s tariff war, conflicts in the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine, and breakneck innovation in AI have put enormous pressure on the existing world order. Now 2026 is set to be another test of resilience for the global economy. All eyes are on Rachel Reeves to deliver growth; how will the new Budget, anticipated to contain cuts and tax raises, shape the nation for the year to come? What does the rising wave of populism from left and right mean for the economic policies of incumbent parties in the UK, Europe, US and beyond? And how will the United States and China’s battle for supremacy continue to impact us all? In February 2026, Chief Economics Commentator for the Financial Times Martin Wolf joined us to explore how these tensions will shape the world economy in the year ahead, and what new threats and opportunities could be on the horizon. Widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential writers on the global economy and a multi-award-winning financial j

What does it mean to belong when the very idea of home is under threat? In this episode we’re joined by award-winning author and political thinker Ece Temelkuran. Forced into exile for her critical views of President Erdoğan, Temelkuran has long signalled the alarm that fascism threatens not only her home country Türkiye, but the whole democratic world. Her first book in English, How to Lose a Country, received international praise. Her second, Together, offers ‘a way out from the political and moral insanity’ that is ushered by the global rise of fascism.  Now Temelkuran joins host Mythili Rao to discuss her new book, Nation of Strangers, a powerful and personal reappraisal of the concept of exile, migration and rebuilding home in the 21st century. Increasingly, oppression seems to be spreading, institutions crumbling, and certainties dissolving. Across the world, the number of refugees and exiles, the dispossessed and displaced, the politically homeless and economically excluded is growing. In response,

Each of us takes on average 25,000 breaths a day. Yet, as a species we have lost the ability to breathe correctly – and this has consequences for our health. That’s the argument of bestselling author James Nestor who has travelled the world to explore how ancient cultures used breathing as a medicine to help heal the body and calm the mind.. In February 2026 we were joined by Nestor for an eye-opening talk, as he explained the science and traditions of how the simple act of breathing can transform our health and wellbeing. Drawing from his bestselling book Breath Nestor showed how the way we breathe affects everything, from sleep to allergies, mental health and athletic performance. He also shared the remarkable stories of others who have changed their lives through the power of breath. Nestor challenged our understanding of our most basic biological function, and explained where we have gone wrong and how we fix it. ---- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversat

Our attention is under attack. A handful of powerful tech companies are extracting and monetising our focus, reshaping our inner lives and threatening the foundations of democracy. Many proposed solutions rely on individual willpower but can we really outsmart supercomputers on our own? In this episode, we’re joined by Peter Schmidt of the Strother School of Radical Attention and D. Graham Burnett, Professor of the History of Science at Princeton University, two of the authors of Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement. Written collectively by 25 academics, activists, and artists known as the Friends of Attention, all royalties from Attensity! Are donated to charity. In this episode, they speak with Conor Boyle, Head of Programming at Intelligence Squared, to explore the origins of the trillion-dollar battle for our attention and how we might begin to reclaim our minds. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all

For more than a decade, Sir Sajid Javid was at the heart of power in Britain. First elected in 2010, he rapidly rose to his first cabinet position as Culture Secretary. The son of a bus driver and comprehensive school-educated, he was one of the few cabinet members from a working-class background. He went on to hold several ministerial roles under three different prime ministers including Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson.  In February 2026 he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share lessons from his time in government. Drawing from his new memoir The Colour of Home, he also revealed his story of a childhood marked by poverty and racism, and explored his thoughts on Britain’s multiracial society.  ---- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes,